Thierry Henry was denied a joyful homecoming as France was defeated by gold medal winners Spain.

Exactly 36 years after Vinnie Jones, Dave Beasant, Lawrie Sanchez, and others ripped up the rulebook to propel Bobby Gould's Wimbledon to a storied FA Cup victory, Thierry Henry's France fell agonisingly short of capturing an emotional Olympic gold medal in front of a sold-out Parc des Princes in Paris.

Henry, who gave his young French team the nickname the 'Crazy Ones' due to their fun-loving nature, won nearly everything as a player, and despite the stars appearing to align for a historic gold medal on home turf, the Arsenal legend was overshadowed by Santi Denia's slick Spaniards in a dramatic 5-3 extra-time defeat.

Sergio Camello of Rayo Vallecano was their unexpected late nemesis, dunking French goalkeeper Guillaume Restes with 100 minutes on the clock to startle a stunned capacity crowd.

And he delivered a virtual carbon copy of that finish with the game's final kick, charging in on goal as the French flung bodies forward to slot past Restes and cruelly deny Henry his most famous home victory.

Sergio Camello scored the winning goals for Spain in extra time.

The French were urged on by their legion of supporters, who unfurled a spirited gold medal tifo before kick-off, when midfielder Enzo Millot's score put them ahead early on.

After a pre-match schedule that included Arsene Wenger's arrival on the pitch, Italian singer Gala performing her recently repopularised football anthem 'Freed from Desire' and a rousing rendition of La Marseillaise, the Stuttgart star enthralled the home crowd with a relatively fortuitous opener.

Spanish goalkeeper Arnau Tenas, who made six appearances for Paris Saint-Germain last season, had a field day dealing with Millot's effort as the ball inexplicably slid through his hands and caused pandemonium in the frantic French end behind the goal.

Free of Desire? Les Bleus are on fire, more like.

But then it all fell apart as Henry's France froze under the spotlight and squandered a magnificent opportunity.

Fermin Lopez leveled with a beautiful low finish when given far too much room in the box, and just seven minutes later, the Barcelona star scored his second, tapping in at the far post to silence the 50,000-strong crowd and give the hosts a difficult task.

That quickly became a mountain to climb when, on 25 minutes, Alex Baena's magnificent free kick flew into the top corner, leaving Restes stranded to the spot.

Jean-Philippe Mateta equalised from the penalty spot to tie the game at 3-3.

Henry's side did respond, with former Crystal Palace pairing - until the latter's move to Bayern Munich this summer - Jean-Philippe Mateta and Michael Olise combining fluently, and Mateta, whose double against Egypt on Monday fired the French into the final, forcing Tenas to make a fantastic save to keep his side's two-goal lead.

France emerged from the break many minutes ahead of their opponents and appeared visibly up for it at the start of the second half.

And they should have cut the lead when Manu Kone's near post header rattled Tenas' crossbar, leaving the Spanish shot-stopper well beaten.

France continued to pound the door down while Mateta, a pest all night, was stopped, and the steely Spaniards flung their bodies at everything as if their lives depended on it.

And goalkeeper Tenas, who was so severely at fault for the initial goal, recovered to deliver one of his best games, magnificently denying Kone with a spectacular reflex save.

It was only a matter of time before the French equalized, and they did so with just 10 minutes remaining, when Maghnes Akliouche blasted in to set up a heart-pounding grandstand finish in the pouring rain at Parc des Princes.

And it delivered emphatically as the game entered its final moments, when referee Ramon Abatti was spectacularly sent to the VAR monitor for a probable Spanish foul in the box.

Thierry Henry and his youthful French team just fell short in the gold medal match despite an astonishing comeback.

Surrounded by an enraged Henry and scores of Spanish camp members, the Brazilian, who was equipped with a microphone to transmit his verdict to the crowd, held his nerve and pointed to the location where Benat Turrientes had hauled Arnaud Kalimuendo to the ground.

That set the stage for Mateta, the Games' second highest scorer with four goals, to send the game to extra time, which he did in nerveless fashion by sending Tenas the wrong way, causing Parisian pandemonium as the full-time whistle sounded.

There was almost enough time for another sting in the tail as Turrientes hit the crossbar and was denied a spectacular comeback by the smallest of margins.

But then Camello snatched it at the last second, unerringly lobbing Restes either side of the extra-time break to inflict heartbreak on Henry and destroy his Crazy Boys' chances of duplicating the Wimbledon Wembley heroes of 1988.